"U.S. Initial Jobless Claims Decrease to 10-Month Low of 521,000"

[Clio the Leo]

Wonder if this will get as much attention as last Friday's jobless rate numbers? (of course it wont)

U.S. Initial Jobless Claims Decrease to 10-Month Low of 521,000
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By Shobhana Chandra

Oct. 8 (Bloomberg) -- The number of Americans filing first- time claims for unemployment benefits fell last week to the lowest since January, a sign the labor market is deteriorating more slowly as the economy emerges from the recession.

Applications fell by 33,000 to 521,000, lower than forecast, in the week ended Oct. 3, from a revised 554,000 the week before, Labor Department data showed today in Washington. The total number of people collecting unemployment insurance dropped in the prior week to the least since March.

(more)
http://bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601087&sid=a2Z8m8IDvNXs

[Craftsman]

1. When you slit a pig's throat eventually the bleeding slows

No new decent paying jobs no recovery.

[phleshdef]

2. History sais thats a bunch of crap.

Because historically, this is exactly what a recovery looks like.

[Craftsman]

4. Show me the jobs, history will not feed families or house them

[phleshdef]

15. People lose jobs even when the economy is at its greatest.

[Craftsman]

16. But when this shear amount lose jobs it can't be good

Yes the rate might be slowing but until it stops and employment, good paying employment comes back it is not a recovery.

[phleshdef]

28. By definition, a recovery just means the economy is beginning to grow again instead of shrink.

By definition, it is a recovery.

[uponit7771]

31. GDP can grow while middle class jobs shrink, that would stank...inflation

[Kurt_and_Hunter]

5. "historically, this is exactly what a recovery looks like" Um, no.

It is fine to say this is a recovery. That is technically true and things are certainly better than they were 8 months ago.

But to claim, with a superior attitude no less, that this is in any way a typical recovery is just wrong.

This is an ATYPICAL crisis and the 'recovery' is far from normal.

A lot of instant-experts have absorbed talking-point knowledge like the fact that employment recovery is a lagging indicator. That's true.

But though employment always lags relative to GDP, until quite recently there was no such thing as a jobless recovery. It is a new phenomenon.

So, no. Historically, this is not exactly what a recovery looks like.

[Craftsman]

6. My brother in law has been out of work for 7 months in Maine

He can't even find a job at fast food in his town. Higher GDP does him no good until the jobs come.

[uponit7771]

10. Yeap, and don't forget hours worked is a LEADING indicator and were still falling in that

...category.

[Craftsman]

11. Not to mention hours are being cut.

A neighbor of mine was told he was going to be taking a day off a week for the next few months. Yes he can burn vacation but that will eventually run out.

[phleshdef]

14. Its not a "jobless recovery" if unemployment levels are tapering off to normal levels.

New jobless claims will happen every month, even in a booming economy. You act like if people are losing jobs at all that its some abnormal phenomena.

Yes, historically, this is still exactly what a recovery looks like.

[Kurt_and_Hunter]

21. 9.8% is not a normal level

[phleshdef]

26. Thats not what I said. I'm talking about the average monthly job loss.

[uponit7771]

27. There's no 500k a month new jobless claims even in a bad economy hell, we haven't had

...those types of drops sense the Great Depression.

500k avg isn't good and the BLS keeps cutting people out of the sample pool

[xchrom]

3. you're harshin people's buzz, man. nt

[Phx_Dem]

7. That's bullshit. Jobs are always a lagging indicator.

[uponit7771]

9. Hours worked is a leading one and they're still falling or staying lower

[avaistheone1]

12. And jobs will be a lagging indicator for years to come until manufacturing is revived

in America and new industries are developed here.

[uponit7771]

8. I fail to see how 500,000 people on average for a year filing for unemployment is a good thing....

...that's like saying the airplane is crashing into the ground slower than expected.

I think squeezing the dollar to fill equities right before a half trillion dollar green jobs jolt is genius though

[scheming daemons]

13. This report ALSO tells you that the number who are no longer on Unemployment decreased as well

Yes... 521,000 went on unemployment.

But several hundred thousand were also hired. When that number gets higher than the first number, we have positive job growth.

We're getting close to that.

[Craftsman]

17. Or did their benefits run out, like a old high school friend of mine did last month?

He has been looking for over 6 months and nothing yet.

[scheming daemons]

18. In some cases, yes.....

but there's no arguing that the trajectory is correct.... just a matter of how long before it turns positive

[Craftsman]

19. And what kind of jobs

Walmart and Mickey D's don't pay like Ford and GM. And I have yet to see much effort to get good paying jobs back.

[uponit7771]

25. 521,000 jobs lost is the CORRECT trajectory?!!? I respectfully disagree, that number is still ...

...a crushing number

[Clio the Leo]

23. Because it was over 700,000 in January....

..... I'll take it.

[uponit7771]

24. Again, a slower crashing airliner isn't a good thing either..neither is good 1 is just less horrible

[Clio the Leo]

29. lol, spoken like someone....

... who's never been on a crashing airliner.

It's not a great thing ...... it's a better thing.

[uponit7771]

30. If the airliner "crashes" at 100mph vs 900mph the passengers STILL die.

[Clio the Leo]

32. ok, *I* can do the crazy metaphors too!

What about it's like inviting 10 kids over for a tea party .... but you only have 3 cookies .... so it sucks for the 7 kids who dont get a cookie ... but they come back 8 months later, and you now have five cookies .... sure it still sucks for half the kids .... but this time you were able feed two more than you were 8 months ago. Progress because you've fed two more kids. Two more kids can sleep with full bellies. And since you have now fed five kids, maybe they can help you come make the next batch. So it's looking likely that you'll have more cookies to give out in the coming months.

How's that?

Or is the only metaphor that works one that is really scary and involves death and destruction?

[Kurt_and_Hunter]

20. You raise a question that implies a desirable mode of coverage

If ones' objective is that Barack Obama and/or congressional Dems look good then good news should outweigh bad news.

If ones objective is the best outcome for the average citizen then the best outcome is whatever leads to some additional employment stimulus.

If everyone perceives the job picture as rosy the odds of an employment-stimulus are lower, though the actual unemployment situation is the same.

So it is not automatic how one should wish the news were covered

Notice that even if coverage is a RW plot to weaken Obama it can be a net positive if Obama says, "we are getting hammered in the corporate media on jobs. We better do something about jobs to counter it."

[Clio the Leo]

22. My point..........

....... is that Friday's job numbers were BLOWN UP (by that I dont mean misrepresented, I mean heavily covered) and yet (so far) today's numbers aren't getting the same amount of coverage. The number of new claims has been going down (with one exception this summer) since January ... Septembers numbers goes up and it gets more coverage than all the months of decline.

There's some disparity there.